Development in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

NSW

Building approvals, live development applications and major projects across the Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble statistical area — covering Walgett, Cobar and Coonamble and 5 more.

SA3 10501 Rest of NSW 21,898 residents 5 statistical areas
Approved · FY25 37 dwellings approved
vs 5-yr average 30 average approvals a year
In the queue 57 live applications
Major projects 7 3 already under construction
Data Sources ABSCouncil planning portals ABS to June 2026 · Refreshed ABS QuickStats SA3 10501 How we calculate this

The Pipeline Development Pipeline in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

1 Proposed 57 applications in assessment Leading · to July 2026 See applications ↓
2 Approved 37 dwellings approved in 2024-25, or 0.17 per 100 existing dwellings a year Official · ABS to June 2026 See approvals ↓
3 Building 7 major projects committed or under construction, 3 of them already on site Forward · completions to 2030+ See projects ↓
4 Delivered 132 new addresses verified since the 2021 Census, up 1.0% on the existing base Actual · to June 2026 Where it landed ↓
In the 2024-25 financial year the ABS recorded 37 dwelling approvals across Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble. Right now, 57 development applications are before the 8 councils covering the area. AreaSearch tracks 7 major projects here that are committed or under construction, the largest being Cobar Wind Farm at an estimated $450m. On the ground, 132 new addresses have been verified since the 2021 Census — growth of 1.0% on the existing address base.

These four figures are deliberately not added together. An application, an approval and a project under construction are often the same building at three points in its life, measured by three different bodies with three different lags. Read them as a sequence, not a total.

Approved Building Approvals in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

What councils and certifiers have formally permitted — the ABS series, published about four months in arrears.

Approvals are running at 0.17 per 100 existing dwellings a year, well below the New South Wales rate of 0.59. The mix is genuinely split — 64% of recent approvals are detached houses and 36% are attached or higher-density dwellings. That is a clear shift toward density — the five-year average is 76% houses. Detached houses make up 90% of the homes already standing here but only 76% of the past five years of approvals, so the area is densifying. The average approved dwelling is valued at $542,000 in construction cost.

Dwelling units approved each financial year. The dashed line is the five-year average of 30.

How intensively is it building?

Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing dwellings.

Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble 0.17
New South Wales 0.59
Australia 0.71

What is here, and what is coming

Detached houses as a share of existing homes, against the share of recent approvals.

Existing homes (2021 Census) 90%
Approved, last 5 years 76%
Approved, latest year 64%
Detached houses Apartments, townhouses & other

Approvals mix by year

Share of each year’s approvals.

2022
2023
2024
2025
2024-25
$25.7m
Residential work approved
2024-25
$63.5m
Commercial work approved
construction cost
$542,000
Average value per approved dwelling
last two years
601
Residents per approval

Supply & Demand Is Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble Building Enough Homes?

The same approvals, measured against the population they have to house.

Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble approves about 1.4 new dwellings a year for every 1,000 residents. Since the 2021 Census it has added 291 residents and 132 new addresses, roughly one new home per 2.2 extra residents — broadly in step with an average household of 2.9.

Growth against supply since the Census

People added for every new address verified, against the size of an average local household.

People added per new home 2.2
Average household size 2.9

A bar longer than the household average means the area gained more residents than its new housing could hold, and the extra had to be absorbed by existing homes.

Approval rate against projected need

Dwellings a year: what is currently being approved, against what the 2041 population projection implies.

1.4

dwellings approved a year per 1,000 residents. No population projection is published for this area.

ProposedLEADING · to July 2026 Development Applications in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

What is being asked for right now — applications collected from council planning portals, before any of it reaches the ABS series above. AreaSearch tracks applications of material scale; routine minor works such as signage and fencing changes are not carried, so these are not counts of every application lodged. 22 of them carry an AreaSearch analyst assessment — look for the Analysed marker in the search below.

AreaSearch tracks 441 development applications of material scale lodged with councils across Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble, the most recent in July 2026. 57 of them are still in assessment. The biggest categories in the queue by value are mixed-use, commercial and childcare.

Estimated value of applications by development type. This is the clearest single picture of what kind of place Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble is being asked to become.

Where the applications stand

As reported by the council. Highlighted rows are applications still in assessment.

Determined 227
Approved 81
Under Assessment 41
Additional Information Requested 29
Withdrawn 28
Cancelled 19

19 applications are still marked under assessment but were lodged more than 18 months ago. Councils often leave determined or abandoned applications open in their feeds, so they are counted here but excluded from the live queue above.

By local government area

Applications on record within each council area that overlaps Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble. This counts applications inside this statistical area only — it is not a total for the council.

Walgett 265
Cobar 50
Coonamble 50
Bogan 24
Bourke 23

Recent applications in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

By estimated cost of works, as lodged. Estimates are the applicant’s own figures and are not verified by AreaSearch.

Commercial / Office and Mixed-Use Precincts development Walgett - Lightning Ridge · Additional Information Requested · lodged Mar 2026 · 6 dwellings
$20.5m
Mixed-Use Precincts development Walgett - Lightning Ridge · Under Assessment · lodged Sep 2025
$9.6m
Commercial / Office development Walgett - Lightning Ridge · Additional Information Requested · lodged Feb 2026
$4.7m
Aged Care / Retirement development Walgett - Lightning Ridge · Additional Information Requested · lodged Feb 2026
$800k

BuildingFORWARD Major Projects & Infrastructure in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

What is funded and moving — the projects large enough to change how Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble works, ranked by committed value and how close they are to delivery.

AreaSearch tracks 7 current projects across Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble. The largest is Cobar Wind Farm at an estimated $450m, due by 2030. That breaks down as 3 under construction and 4 still in planning. The pipeline is weighted toward energy, environmental & disaster management and precincts & urban renewal.
NSW Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) Program
Under construction $32.0bn Statewide program by 2034

NSW Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) Program

NSW is delivering five Renewable Energy Zones (Central-West Orana, New England, South West, Hunter-Central Coast, and Illawarra) to coordinate wind and solar generation, storage, and high-voltage transmission…

Cobar

Nyngan to Cobar Pump Stations and Pipeline
Under construction $49m by 2027

Nyngan to Cobar Pump Stations and Pipeline

The project involves constructing two new state-of-the-art pump stations at Nyngan and Hermidale to replace critically ageing infrastructure and ensure reliable water supply for the Cobar region. Cobar is one…

Nyngan - Warren

Cobar Wind Farm
In planning $450m by 2030

Cobar Wind Farm

Proposed wind farm and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) featuring up to 30 turbines (up to 280m in height) with a 216 MW installed capacity and a 50MW/100MWh BESS across approximately 7,800 hectares of…

Cobar

Also in the pipeline

Grand Central Precinct Planning and Design Project In planning · Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2027 · Cobar
$4m
Old Hospital Site Residential Estate In planning · Residential Development · Cobar
Great Cobar Museum Coach House and Underground Mine Experience Under construction · Tourism · by 2025 · Cobar
Macquarie-Castlereagh Alluvium Water Resource Plan In planning · Environmental & Disaster Management · Coonamble

Combined values on this page exclude 1 whole-of-state program that reaches this area but are not local to it. Both are still listed above with their own values.

AI Generated Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other investigations from the project’s source for actual imagery. Developers and project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact Us and we will do so.

Estimated value of tracked projects by the year they are due to complete, stacked by how certain they are. The dark band is money already being spent; the pale band is still an intention. Estimates are indicative and mix infrastructure cost with whole-of-precinct development value, so read the shape rather than the totals.

Approvals Pipeline Development Applications in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

Development applications around Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

Development approvals is a new addition to AreaSearch. We’re actively expanding council coverage and refining the dataset — details and statuses for some councils may be partial. Check back regularly for the latest pipeline.
Applications
In the local catchment
Est. Value
Where disclosed
Under Assessment
Awaiting determination
Determined
Approved or decided
Approvals pipeline Status, location, timing and project scale

Loading development applications…

Lodged Address Description Type Distance Status

SOURCE: Planning portals and council registers, compiled by AreaSearch. Distance & bearing measured from the suburb midpoint.

ProfessionalPRO Development Map for Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

Applications and major projects plotted where they are actually proposed, with the 8 projects AreaSearch tracks here on their own tab — filterable by type, delivery stage, area and committed value. To search every application on record rather than this sample, use the section above.

Distribution Where Development Is Happening in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble covers 5 statistical areas. Follow any of them through for a full profile of population, housing, sales and amenity at local scale.
Map builder

Each area below opens a map builder on its own page — a tool for putting a map and a table into a report. Pick the place types you want plotted (schools, supermarkets, medical, child care, transport and the rest of what AreaSearch holds), add development applications as their own layer, drop your own points, then recolour, renumber and export the result as a table or CSV. A this area only toggle clips everything to the boundary you are looking at. Searches are charged against your credit balance — 1 credit per 40 results from AreaSearch data — and setting filters costs nothing until you search. The builder works on one suburb-sized area at a time, which is why it opens per area rather than across the whole of Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble.

Walgett - Lightning Ridge area profile

No separate approvals series published
267 applications on record
Build a map

Nyngan - Warren area profile

No separate approvals series published
38 applications on record · 41 new addresses since 2021
Build a map

Cobar area profile

No separate approvals series published
51 applications on record
Build a map

Coonamble area profile

No separate approvals series published
50 applications on record · 20 new addresses since 2021
Build a map

Bourke - Brewarrina area profile

No separate approvals series published
35 applications on record · 43 new addresses since 2021
Build a map

Planning Authorities Councils Covering Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble spans 8 local government areas — Walgett, Cobar, Coonamble, Bogan, Warren, Bourke, Brewarrina and Lachlan. Applications here are assessed by whichever of those councils the site falls within. AreaSearch publishes development figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries. That is deliberate: the ABS issues a separate official building-approvals series for local government areas, and totals built up from statistical areas would not match it. Reporting at SA3 keeps every figure on this page reconcilable with the published ABS series.
Local government areaShare of Bourke - Cobar - CoonambleApplications on recordRegister read to
Walgett 24% of residents 265 July 2026
Cobar 19% of residents 50 May 2026
Coonamble 17% of residents 50 June 2026
Bogan 11% of residents 24 April 2026
Warren 11% of residents 15 May 2026
Bourke 11% of residents 23 June 2026
Brewarrina 6.3% of residents 14 July 2026
Lachlan 0.3% of residents Not yet collected

Compare Nearby Development Hubs

The same view of building approvals, applications and major projects for areas neighbouring Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble.

Data & Method Sources & Method for Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble

The four tenses, and what each one can tell you

Proposed — development applications
Collected from council planning portals. The earliest signal available, but the least certain: many applications are amended, withdrawn or refused, values are the applicant’s own estimate, and coverage varies by council. This is a curated set, not the full council feed: AreaSearch carries applications of material scale and does not track routine minor works such as signage, fencing or small alterations, so the counts here are lower than a council’s own total lodgement figure and should not be compared with it. Applications still shown as under assessment more than 18 months after lodgement are reported separately and kept out of the live-queue figures: the age profile of open applications is sharply split between a genuine queue under a year old and a long tail of records councils never closed. Not every state publishes a cost of works — Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT publish none at all — so on those pages applications are counted rather than valued and no dollar figure is shown rather than a partial one. Treated here as a snapshot of the current queue only — AreaSearch does not chart application counts over time, because the history reflects when each portal was collected rather than when development happened.
Approved — ABS building approvals
The official series, aggregated to SA3 from ABS building approvals data, currently published to June 2026. Counts dwelling units approved, not buildings and not completions. The most recent financial year is annualised from nine months of data wherever it appears and is labelled as such.
Building — major projects
Projects tracked individually by AreaSearch from Infrastructure Australia, state infrastructure agencies, developer disclosures and council records. Values are estimates and delivery dates are targets. Ranked on this page by committed value and delivery stage rather than by distance.
Delivered — verified new addresses
New residential addresses verified in the national address register since the 2021 Census. This is the closest available measure of what has actually been built, though address creation can lead occupation and lags construction. It is not a completions count.

Boundaries

Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble is Statistical Area Level 3 10501 in the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (2021 edition), made up of 5 Statistical Areas Level 2. It has an estimated 21,898 residents, +1.4% since the 2021 Census.

Currency

MeasureSourceTo
Dwelling approvals, five-year average ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
House share of approvals ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Residents per approval ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Value per approved dwelling ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Commercial work approved ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Verified new addresses since the Census Address register / AreaSearch May 2026
Development applications Council planning portals July 2026
Major projects Infrastructure Australia / state agencies / AreaSearch Ongoing

Figures on this page are read live from the AreaSearch database each time it loads, so they update as soon as a source does.

Development in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble — common questions

How many new dwellings were approved in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble?

The ABS recorded 37 dwelling approvals across Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble in the 2024-25 financial year, against a five-year average of 30 a year.

How many development applications are lodged in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble?

AreaSearch tracks 441 development applications of material scale across Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble — routine minor works such as signage and fencing are not included, so this is not a count of every application lodged, of which 57 remain in assessment. Applications are assessed within the Walgett, Cobar and Coonamble local government areas. The most recent application in our data was lodged in July 2026.

What major projects are planned for Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble?

AreaSearch tracks 7 current major projects in Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble, 3 of them under construction. The largest include NSW Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) Program, Nyngan to Cobar Pump Stations and Pipeline and Cobar Wind Farm.

Which council covers Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble?

Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble is an ABS Statistical Area Level 3. It is covered by parts of 8 local government areas — Walgett, Cobar, Coonamble, Bogan, Warren, Bourke, Brewarrina and Lachlan. AreaSearch publishes development figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries, so they reconcile with the official ABS series.

Is Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble growing faster than the rest of New South Wales?

On development approvals, Bourke - Cobar - Coonamble is adding new dwellings more slowly than New South Wales as a whole — 0.17 approvals per 100 existing dwellings a year against the state figure of 0.59.

How current is this development data?

ABS building approvals are published with a lag of roughly four months; this page carries the series to June 2026. Development applications are collected from council planning portals and refresh continuously, with the most recent application here lodged in July 2026. Major project records are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Each section carries its own currency label so the four are never confused.

Development data is provided for general information. Estimated values, dwelling counts and delivery dates come from the lodging or delivering party and are not independently verified by AreaSearch. Confirm anything material with the relevant council or agency before relying on it.